A marketing guru who also ran her own business, has taken over as Chair of the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce.
Dr Diane Wright, a long-serving member of the Chamber Board, aims to develop the organisation’s role as an ‘asset integral to the success of local business’ and deliver on its pledge to help promote future prosperity.
She has enjoyed a long and successful career in private sector marketing, working with top name brands in the car chemicals industry, before becoming a lecturer in marketing at the Manchester Metropolitan University campus in Crewe.
Promotion saw her move into roles of principal lecturer and later head of the business and management department, responsible for strategic direction and academic leadership.
Her final post before retirement was head of international in the Faculty of Business and Law at the Manchester campus where she led the development of global connections and partnerships with overseas universities.
Earlier in her career she ran a fabric shop in Stockport and worked as a freelance marketing consultant while juggling the demands of caring for two young daughters.
The experience influenced her decision to set up MizBiz – a successful women’s network that supported more than 400 female-owned businesses in South Cheshire.
She also completed a PhD in Female Entrepreneurship and she remains committed to encouraging the growth of women-owned businesses as a way of improving the economic prosperity of the region.
Dr Wright now offers consultancy services to education institutions and small businesses.
She said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to take on the role of Chair of the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, having been a Board member for many years.
“We are experiencing exciting but challenging times but I remain massively convinced of the huge economic and business potential in South Cheshire, now more than ever before.
“I fully believe the Chamber can fulfil its mission: ‘To be an asset that is integral to the success of local businesses and influential in promoting future prosperity’ as it speaks up for the area on a regional and national level.
“We are here to support local businesses and I am looking forward to meeting as many as I can and hearing how we can support them further as we enter a new era.”
Dr Wright, whose first job was on a market stall, has previously chaired the Chamber’s membership and communications panel and served on the Board of Governors at Manchester Metropolitan University and Cheshire College, South & West.
She is currently a director and trustee for Weaver Academy Trust.
Away from work, she enjoys time with her husband Peter and daughters, aged 26 and 24, as well as dressmaking, fashion and travel.
For more information on how to become a member of the South Cheshire Chamber visit www.sccci.co.uk
